Yankees prospect Acevedo dies in car accident

(Reuters) - Teenaged New York Yankees prospect Sandy Acevedo died in a car accident on Saturday night, the Major League Baseball team announced on Sunday.

Third baseman/infielder Acevedo, 18, was signed on a Minor League contract by the Yankees last year as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic.

In a mark of respect, the New York franchise held a moment of silence for Acevedo before Sunday's series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium.

Donny Rowland, the Yankees' director of international scouting, described how the team discovered Acevedo while working out another player, pitcher Yoan Lopez, who ended up signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"Acevedo was one of the hitters that we brought in to face him, and he absolutely owned him in three out of four at-bats and crushed stuff," Rowland said in a 2015 interview with Scout.com.

"That's where our staff became sold on this guy. 'We like the pitcher, but who is the hitter?'"